The Phone Calls That Changed My Life
by MintyProfessor
Summary: Hetalia was a discovered passion in middle school that changed Evelyn's life. But one prank call went wrong leads to a series of events that leads her to ask herself what is really important in life. Angst, implied ships, and Italy.
1. You'd Better Go Catch It!

**Chapter One: The First Day**

Honestly, that day was how it all began. On a Sunday, at 2:32 pm. Yes, I do remember the time of it.

I was sitting at my desk chair, staring at an as of yet uncompleted worksheet. Ugh, math. Probably every person's least favorite subject. I pushed a lock of dark brown hair out of my face and I sighed heavily. I felt so, incredibly, _bored._ "There's never anything to be bored about!" my overly chirpy aunt would say. So. Incredibly. Untrue.

I glanced at my phone, which was resting against my electric pencil sharpener. My friend had not answered my text in an hour, it seemed like, which was slightly irritating and only added to my boredom. I let out a puff of air and awoke the phone from sleep mode by pushing a button. It wasn't a smart phone. That would have been too much of a miracle for my dull parents. But, whatever. At least I _had_ a phone.

I soon gained a bright idea. _Wow, thirteen-year-old brain, this is going to be genius._ I could… make a prank phone call to someone! It wasn't as though my parents looked through my call history, though I couldn't say the same thing for my texts.

I tapped a random number into the keyboard.

"438-825-42XXXX000XX"

 _Wow…_ I wondered what idiot had this long of a number. _This is gonna be hilarious_ , I thought. I hit the call button.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

A small click could be heard as someone picked up the phone. I felt a rush of adrenaline that was familiar to this pursuit, even though(conveniently) my parents weren't home at the moment and obviously couldn't hear me.

"Ciao!" an overly cheerful, accented voice answered the call.

"Hey, is your refrigerator running?" I chose to pick a classic, which is still hilarious if I do say so myself.

"Oh, it's so _thoughtful_ of you to ask! I need to check with Ludwig!" the person on the other end chirped.

 _What the heck…?_ I wondered.

"Doitsu!" the person called in the background. "This kind person wants to know if our refrigerator's running!"

"It's working just fine, why do they need to know?" a gruff voice replied, seeming to be in another room.

"It is running!" the person— _wait, are they a guy or a girl?_ I wondered—said cheerfully. 'Thank you for checking!"

I was too stupefied for a moment to say anything else, but I then broke out of my stupor and replied with, "Then you'd better go catch it!" I hung up before either of us could say anything more. I stared at my phone for a moment before finally putting it down.

 _Who… was that…?_ I wondered.


	2. Who IS This Person?

Ah, middle school. The time in an adolescent's life where they can find who they truly are, their calling in life, if you will.

In my case, that calling happened to be watching anime incessantly.

At this point, I had altogether forgotten about the phone call incident, as it was the eighth grade. I didn't have time to think about it too much what with the constant stream of school work, anime, friend issues, drama, high school preparation, anime, and friend issues. Did I mention anime?

I still had the same phone, of course, and I ever only used it to actually call anyone at the prank calling incident.

I also had this group of friends, who were, in short, weird. These people. Were _weird._ However, they were the people that got me into this show called Hetalia. Now, I know you're probably scratching your head right now, saying "what the hell is Hetalia?" Well, I'd hate to break it to you, but you're going to have to look it up on Google or Bing or whatever you use.

Anyhow.

One cold, December day, on my winter break, I sat in the basement of my house, just simply soaking in the fact that I didn't have school. Also, the fact that I was putting off the heavy workload that I had to do was enough cause for me just to sit there.

I leaned against the back of the tacky red, green, and yellow couch and I sighed, very satisfied with my place in the world(for once).

But then my phone started to go off.

I quickly sat up and I yanked the phone out of my back pocket. A phone buzzing its happy little heart out against your butt is never a very pleasant sensation, in my opinion, and one that I wished to avoid.

I glanced down at the screen, to see who was calling. It was… 438—825.—wait…

I clicked the button on my phone that answered the call and I lifted it up to my ear.

"H—hello…?" I answered cautiously.

"Oh, ciao, ciao!" the same cheerful voice from almost half a year ago spoke.

My eyebrows furrowed. This time, the voice sounded oddly familiar.

"You were the nice person that asked about our refrigerator, yes?"

"Uh… yeah…?" I replied hesitantly.

"Well, I just wanted to thank you! Our refrigerator broke a few days after you called! You're so thoughtful!"

"That… was a joke," I mumbled.

"What did you say…?"

"Uh… I said that you're very welcome," I smiled nervously to myself. Something about this person makes me want to talk gently around them, but I'm not sure why.

"Well, I was just wondering, would you like to be allies?" he(?) sounded very excited.

"Uh… you mean, like, friends?"

"Yes!"

"Well… I don't really see any reason… not to?" I said tentatively.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"My name is Evelyn. You?" I replied.

"My name is Feliciano!" he chirped.

I giggled. "There's someone in this show that I watch with that name…!"

"Oh, really? What show is it?" he sounded genuinely interested.

"Well… it's an anime… kinda like a Japanese cartoon," I said carefully. "And… well, you might not like it. Not many people do."

"Ooh!" Feliciano cried. "Kiku loves television shows like that! I need to go tell him!"

Suddenly, there was a loud thump as Feliciano presumably dropped the phone, and a beep as the line went dead. I waited for a few moments, expecting Feliciano to pick up the phone again, but there was nothing. 

* * *

A few months later, I sat in math class with three of my friends, the same weirdoes that had gotten me into my anime obsession. One of those friends also happened to be my girlfriend, back then.

They were talking about all of the anime—related things that they had received for the holidays. I, however, remained quiet.

"What'd you get, Evelyn?" Felicity, a girl that I had known since elementary school turned to me. She had a troubled past, to say the least but I still mostly enjoyed spending time with her.

"Ah… well, I got seasons three to five of Hetalia…" I replied.

"Sleepover at Evelyn's house!" Sasha, my girlfriend, hooted. "Binge watching Hetalia and prank calling people, oh yeah!"

I snorted. "I don't know about that…"

My other friend, Wisteria, said nothing, and held a straight-faced expression. She never really talked about what other people did or got, unless it was to complain.

I turned back to the worksheet we were supposed to be working on, and which I had doodled all over. There was a cat, a small England, a bird… Yeah, you get the idea.

"I got the Hetalia manga," Wisteria said suddenly. "You all can read it once I'm done with it."

I simply nodded. I didn't really like to borrow other people's books, unless they were from the library, as a rule. I didn't enjoy lending out my own, either.

"Awesome!" Felicity grinned. "I get it first!"

Sasha huffed and gave Felicity a certain gesture.

As I turned back to my math work, my mind floated back to the phone call from the winter break. I had turned the idea of telling my "squad" about it in my head a couple times. But, I had some suspicions, and for once, I wanted to keep this particular piece of knowledge to myself.


	3. Just Be Honest?

Wisteria was finishing a (really long) yarn about why a particular ship that she hated sucked. I was only half listening, as I shoved my pita bread into my mouth. I only sat with my "squad" for half of the time for lunch; I mainly sat with my other group of weirdos as they were more apt to listen to me.

I let out a small sigh as I chewed. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to think about the "squad" at this point anymore. However, there wasn't really any reason to not hang out with them, and thus I continued.

Sasha snorted and shoved Wisteria halfheartedly with her shoulder. Those two had a "feud" of a sort going on. It was…

"I wasn't talking to _you,_ " Wisteria rolled her eyes.

"Why would anyone want to listen to you?" Sasha raised her eyebrows.

I let out a sigh of exasperation, deciding to let Felicity deal with it. I began to think about Feliciano, and whether or not he'd call today. It wasn't a actual "crush" by any means; no, he was just enjoyable to talk and listen to. Plus, I could tell him things and there wasn't ever any danger of him telling someone I knew.

* * *

I arrived home after a long day, padding inside and feeling a wave of hot, refreshing air after the freezing cold of outside.

"Mom, I'm home," I called, but I stopped short when I heard my mother talking on the phone in an impatient tone of voice.

 _Oh, God, no…_

This was a daily occurrence. My dad would be a douche over the phone, my mom would be tired, and they would yell at one another.

Over the phone.

 _Yay._

I let out a puff of air and took off my shoes, going up to my room almost immediately afterwards. I didn't want to deal with anyone's moods today.

I plopped onto my bed once I got in my room and shut the door. My phone buzzed, almost right on cue.

I smiled slightly. _Hello, Feliciano._

I picked up my phone and I answered the call. "Hello?"

"Ciao!" the familiar, cheery voice sounded. "Evelyn! How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks," I grinned. "You?"

"Oh, I'm great! The refrigerator is working wonderfully!" he chirped.

I laughed. "That's good. How's the job?" Feliciano worked a government job, though he didn't tell me the details. I could understand that, though.

"Oh, Lovino is stressed out," he sighed. "But I'm fine." Lovino, Feliciano told me in one of his previous calls, was Feliciano's grumpy older brother.

"Ah, I hope it gets better soon," I sympathize. "Grumpy people suck."

He giggled. "He's not that bad, it's mostly when Big Brother Antonio or Ludwig is around that he's mad."

"Huh," I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh, also," he lowered his voice slightly. "You said… that you have a girlfriend, yes?"

"Yeah, so…?" I could tell that Feliciano was Italian when I first heard him, but when I told him, he didn't seem all too bothered by it.

"Well… what do you do when you start to feel feelings for someone that's the same gender as you and not a girl and its not like anyone you've ever tried to have a relationship with before and you don't know what to do?" he began to talk really fast.

"Woah, slow down, dude," I huffed. "Just be yourself and be honest."

"Okay!" he burst out. "I will go do that, bye!"

Before he hang up, I could hear him in the background, shouting "Ludwiiiiiig!"

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey, all, this is my first author's note ever, but I'll make it quick!**_

 _ **Thanks so much for your feedback! I didn't expect to receive so much positivity for this little old story that I wrote ^u^ But I take critique, too, so don't be shy!**_

 _ **Also, I'd like to apologize for the late update and the really short chapter, I've been really busy lately. But don't worry, a more exciting installment in Evelyn's adventure will be here soon enough!**_


	4. Unsatisfied

_Evelyn ran over to her best friend's table. Her best friend happened to be named Felicity, and was, in fact, the only friend that Evelyn had. Evelyn was in fifth grade, and, having moved to that school the year before, did not have many friends._

 _Felicity sat at the "No Nut Table", as very obviously she was allergic to all kinds of nuts._

 _Evelyn's face fell when she saw that the table was full. "Oh..." She mumbled to herself._

 _Well, perhaps, Evelyn thought, she would be able to play with Felicity during recess._

 _Later that afternoon, Evelyn walked around the playground by herself._

* * *

I sat with my other group of friends, cracking inappropriate jokes and laughing. "Oh, my god, Trent!" I howled, the said male having put "sweethearts" into a coke bottle and drinking it. "I didn't really mean for you to actually drink it!"

Liza, who was dating Trent, let out a huff. "I can't believe you, sometimes," she nudged Trent with her elbow.

Trent laughed and shoved a gummy worm into his mouth, causing the rest of us to laugh even harder.

"Dude!" Ryan, the redhead snorted.

"Oh, guys, guys!" Alex shouted. "I have a joke. Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?" April replied.

"Dishes!"

"Dishes who?"

"Dishes a very bad joke!"

We all laughed harder than we should have.

Halfway through lunch, I switched tables, as usual. "Hi, guys," I greeted Felicity, Sasha, and Wisteria.

They were all pretty busy looking at a picture on Wisteria's phone.

I sighed and I sat down across from Wisteria.

"Oh my god, that's funny!" Sasha laughed at the picture.

"Yeah," agreed Wisteria.

"Guys, you should have heard this joke that Alex said-" I began to say, wanting to make a conversation.

"I have a joke!" Felicity interrupted me. I felt a small stab of... some unknown feeling in my stomach. I stared at the table, feeling sick about this feeling. I didn't like it. These were really good friends. All my friends were! I mean, it wasn't as though they ignored me when something more interesting came along...

Right?

"Oh, did you hear about that new kid? Dennis? He wears a trench coat, and he's really cool," Sasha spoke up, bringing me back to reality.

That sick feeling again.

"Let's invite him to the table," Felicity announced.

I said nothing. The feeling began to overtake me, making me feel even more sick.

They invited him to the table. He was... brash, loud. He had bright red hair that he clearly dyed. And all of my friends ignored me to talk to him about bands that I had never heard of.

Well, I thought. That's okay. They're just making a new friend, that's all. There's nothing wrong with that at all. It would be selfish of me to draw the attention back to myself.

So, I chose to doodle in my sketchbook instead.

The bell rang, somehow being heard over a hundred chatty fourteen year olds. I stood up, and Sasha padded over to me, grinning. "Hey."

"Hi," I replied, smiling. The sick feeling disappeared. Ah, just me overreacting again. We began our journey down the hallway, toward our lockers, which were next to each other.

Felicity came out of nowhere, seemingly, and shoved herself between Sasha and I. "Third wheel!" she shouted, causing me to stumble and Sasha to laugh.

The sick feeling returned, overpowering me, and I stormed away, leaving them alone to talk about whatever the heck they wanted to. Not like it mattered to me. Ugh...

"Evelyn!" Sasha whined after me. "Wait!"

I huffed and I stopped walking when I reached the hallway where our lockers were. "What?"

"Why'd you leave?"

I shrugged. "I figured that you wanted to be left alone to talk to Felicity. That's all."

"No! I wanted to talk to _you_!" Sasha huffed.

"Okay." I padded to my locker, and soon became frustrated when the combination did not work. " _Urgh_ _!_ "

"Uh, Evelyn?" One of my acquaintances, Chloe, stood behind me. "That's my locker."

"Oh. S-sorry!" I moved down a locker to my own. Sasha, who was watching this, snickered. My face burned. I had never taken embarrassment, or messing up very well. But then again, who does?

"It's okay," Chloe replied nonchalantly. I could still hear Sasha's snorts of amusement, and I felt... tears?!... coming to my eyes.

 _Oh my god. You're crying about_ this _?!_ _Who cries about something so stupid?!_

* * *

I lay on the floor of my bedroom, roleplaying over text with Wisteria. We started it over a year ago, and we still haven't stopped. Sometimes, it felt like the only thing about me that mattered to her, but that wasn't true, of course. Just my stupid gut.

I sent the text, and my phone immediately buzzed again. Ah, the Italian Telemarketer of Pasta is ready to talk. I pressed the button to answer the phone.

"Hi, Feliciano!"

"Ciao!" he chirped in reply.

"So," I grinned. "How'd things go with you-know-who?"

"Oh, Ludwig? Ve, everything went very well," he said happily.

"That's good." I smiled, but my face fell when I heard... raised voices downstairs. Oh, god, why'd they have to do this now? "Uh, hang on." I crept over to my closed door to listen to my parents' disagreement.

"YOU STUPID BITCH!" My dad's voice blasted through the door, and I winced. "DO YOU THINK WE HAVE ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD?!" His voice was slurred, and I could tell that he had been at the bar.

"Calm down," my mom replied in a *fairly* calm tone. "Just go lay down, and..."

"OH, you think that you're ALL THAT!" My father snarled, and I heard my mom fall against the floor.

"Hey!" My mom hissed.

I winced, and I moved away from the door, putting the phone back up to my ear.

"Is everything okay?" Feliciano sounded anxious.

"I'm... gonna have to call you back," I muttered and I hung up.


End file.
